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Saturday, 16 July 2016

Lovely, lovely fabric shopping

A couple of weeks ago I went on a fabrictastic shopping trip to Goldhawk Rd (Shepherd's Bush, West London) organised by the lovely Janet of Kitchen Table Sewing. It was a great day, with great people, and I'd like to share my highlights and fabric finds.

My new fabric destination of choice

Although I know Shepherd's Bush reasonably well, I'd never really explored the fabric shopping potential of Goldhawk Rd. Oh my, what a treasure trove. So many shops, stacked floor to ceiling with every fabric you can think of (except possibly brushed cotton it turns out). Basements with bargain bolts of chambray, top floor nooks with baskets of off-cuts, behind-the-counter Liberty silk treasures. It's fair to say we didn't get much further than the tube station, although it felt like we'd covered a lot of ground! Perhaps next time I'll start at the other end and work my way backwards.

Fabric finds

My first purchase was 4.5m of this lovely navy and white floral cotton, earmarked for a Sew Over It Betty Dress. Pretty pleased with the £4.99 a metre price tag.

Up next we have 2m of this mustard ponte roma, looking likely to become another Tilly and the Buttons Coco Top (when I've adjusted the shoulders on the pattern a little).

Really pleased with the 2m of Liberty tana lawn I bought for £9.50 a metre. I think this came from last year's collection and I'm a bit torn whether to make indulgent PJs for myself or a dress for Flo. I'm waiting on my Simplicity Sewing Challenge pattern to arrive, so that might make my decision for me.

I went on the trip looking for a fabric for this fab Deer & Doe shirt pattern. Really pleased to find this soft Chambray tucked away in a basement, and an extra half a metre for free too. Should be enough extra for some shorts for Eddie.

This 1.8m cotton off-cut I bought for £6. Gorgeous colours. Again, may become holiday PJs or possibly a dress for Flo.

I was really pleased to find this dinosaur fabric for Eddie. I got just over a metre as it was the end of a bolt, and a little under a metre of brilliantly colour-matched jersey (it was damaged, so I managed a bit of haggling there). This will eventually become dinosaur PJs for Eddie using my new self-drafted patten (blog post on that coming soon).

And finally

Although our numbers were a bit depleted after all that hardcore fabric shopping, a few of us finished the day at Liberty for a very civilised afternoon tea.

A final stop at the Liberty haberdashery for a Betty Dress pattern and buttons. Oh, and a little treat of a Merchant & Mills tape measure and pins.

It was a thoroughly lovely day and a superb bag of swag to bring home. Right, I'd better get sewing some of these projects so I can justify my next trip. January shopping trip anyone?